SOBA I mentioned in a thread about udon that I would be attending a soba making class. This proved to be an excellent and very worthwhile experience. I learned about the existence of the school through this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDLcgvbzVf0 Contact was made by email and a date and time arranged (10:30am on a Wednesday - the school is closed on Tuesdays) I was very fortunate to be the only student enrolled for that date and time, even luckier when I discovered that sensei spoke English!

(Another interesting topic from the forums. Nominate your favorites, especially those hidden neighborhood gems!)

The other day (I was in Zürich) I had a craving for Japanese food for lunch, so I went to my favorite reasonably priced Japanese restaurant...which, to my dismay, was closed for Easter holidays. Soo...since it was nearby, I went to the fairly new (opened last year) Wagamama. I think I've been to Wagamama in London before, but must have buried the experience in my mind. I ordered a chicken katsu curry, and my lunchmate ordered a chicken ramen.

Any Texans out there living in or near Austin? I'd love some restaurant recommendations, ideally something that's friendly for vegetarians AND meat lovers. I'm heading out there for SXSW again and don't want to do the same wander-until-something-looks-edible thing I did last year. Pizza by the slice is great, but not every day.

This forum section was feeling a bit neglected so I thought I'd start something :) Is there anywhere in the world that you would want to go to, that you've never been to before in your life, just for the food? For me, it's really hard to choose between Morocco, Turkey, India, China, etc... but I think my top pick would probably be Morocco right now. I love the combination of spices used in Moroccan cooking. And the colors you see of photos there are amazing.